1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention is broadly concerned with improved structure facilitating the use and replacement of endless belts in so-called "round balers" employed to produce large round bales of crop material. More particularly, it is concerned with a belt roller mount for a round baler, the mount having a removable spacer positioned between the end of the belt roller and the adjacent baler sidewall.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Round balers employ a series of belts trained about a plurality of rotatable horizontal belt rollers. The belt rollers are journalled between a pair of horizontally spaced, upright panels or sidewalls. The rollers are arranged such that the belts define a baling chamber, with the belts moving in opposite directions at opposing portions of the chamber. Crop materials are thereby rotated by the belts to form round bales.
Using endless belts in round balers avoids problems encountered with belts that must be connected at their terminal ends to form continuous loops. The seam or splice in belts which must be joined at their ends is a weak zone that often frays or gives way. The use of endless belts, however, presents installation and replacement problems because the belts must be somehow passed through the normally uninterrupted span cooperatively defined by the rollers and panels.
A rotary crop baler designed to facilitate the replacing of endless belts has been previously disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,907, issued July 20, 1982, by Arnold F. Kopaska, et al., entitled "Endless Belt Changing in a Rotary Crop Baler." A crop baler in accordance with that application includes belt rollers comprised of two axially aligned sections. The sections of an individual roller are joined together with a releasable coupling. The releasable coupling is comprised of radial flanges rigidly secured to and tightly surrounding the axially aligned sections. An annular spacer is removably positioned between the opposing faces of the flanges. The spacer is clamped in place between the flanges by a series of circumferentially spaced bolts extending through the flanges and the spacer to draw the two axially aligned sections of the belt roller into tight abutment with the spacer.
The Kopaska invention makes it possible to employ endless belts in rotary crop balers. Replacement of endless belts in accordance with the Kopaska invention, however, requires time-consuming removal of the several bolts placed through each set of the many flanges on the baler.
Furthermore, the specific illustrated embodiment having two sections for each roller causes certain manufacturing and materials supply problems, is not optimum from a cost standpoint, and requires the operator to somehow support both roller halves hanging from their respective sidewalls when the flanges of a roller are unbolted.